Marvellous March

 Hardwick

 23.03.15

 

 

With both Helens called away on family duties and Maggie preoccupied, three intrepid Babes met at Hardwick Hall on a chilly, cloudy morning.

 

The sweetly huddling lambs we passed on the meandering way to the car park were too cold even to contemplate gambolling!

 

However the early frost ensured that the bird and squirrel tables outside visitor reception were seething with acrobatic tits – great, coal and blue – and, as Jo went to fetch the binoculars she’d left in the car, a lesser spotted woodpecker, bold as you like, swooped in too. The robins, nuthatch, chaffinches and hedge sparrows cleared off temporarily, giving way. The friendly volunteer mentioned that raven and red kite had recently been spotted on the estate – Lynn became very excited! Sadly the woodpecker did not show himself when Jo and Pam reappeared, so we settled for delicious preparatory coffee and sharing photos of recent events.

 

 

 

 

Fortified, we ambled towards the magnificent Hall, agreeing that Bess must’ve been quite a girl! But we eschewed the built environment and headed down the very steep hill.

 

 We picked up speed as Jo bravely guarded us past some fierce-looking rare breed cows, and we approached the ponds. Synchronised Canada Geese performed balletically – although with their honking it was more like comic opera – and Pam attempted to capture the impressive sight in moving pictures.

 

 

 

The largest pond – why isn’t it a “lake”? – yielded great crested grebes, tufted duck, mallards and beautiful brown ducks with grey bills whose name none of us could remember, thereby identifying a further training opportunity for Helen J. We walked through a scrubby marshy area obviously in the process of being cleared, spotting goldfinches, and a pair of long-tailed tits ambitiously attempting to mate on a precarious branch. We hurried on, discreetly averting our eyes, one of us, can’t remember who, confessing that Springtime does have a rather unsettling effect ----

 

 

We had to make good time back up that same hill for Jo to leave for work, but managed to find the breath to catch up with news, spot song thrush and blackbird, appreciate the little buildings, nicely kept and well-used. Pam assured us this kind of walking (steeply uphill) is far easier with Nordic poles, and we resolved to test this at the earliest opportunity – more training necessary. It warmed us up tho’!

 

We acknowledged our needs in several areas today! We were definitely noisier than we would have been with HJ’s calming influence. Together Pam and Lynn cobbled together words and pictures, hoping that Helen M will sort the blog. Jo did the bird list – we were encouraged at the final count but we needed confirmation of identification from Helen J. And tricky terrain will be easier to negotiate for those with poles to wield.

 

 

Our timekeeping, however, was exemplary! At midday, Jo departed for work, Pam and Lynn had lunch together, the woodpecker did not reappear, and we hadn’t seen red kite or raven (although we got quite excited about what was probably a carrion crow). Pam finally headed off towards the Leabrooks Gallery to check out Helen’s exhibit, and Lynn went back to resume domestic duties.

 

 

Bird List:

Robin

pied Wagtail
Jay
Magpie
Buzzard
great tit

 chaffinch

 blue tit

 nuthatch

  canada geese

 Mallards
Thrush
Coots
wood pigeon

 dunnock

 teal

 Wren
great crested grebes

 swans

 goosander

 tufted ducks

 moorhen

 gold finch

 blackbird

 long tailed tit

 coal tit

 great spotted woodpecker

 Bird of the day – Great Spotted Woodpecker – but we only have Lynn’s word for that---------